Future Aircraft Carrier Doris Miller Delayed by 2 Years
Mallory Shelbourne
May 8, 2026 3:26 PM
Rendering of the third ship in the Ford class of aircraft carriers, Enterprise (CVN-80). HII concept art
One of the Navy’s Ford-class aircraft carriers is delayed by two years, stretching the schedule to build the future USS Doris Miller (CVN-81) out to 15 years, USNI News has learned.
Carrier Doris Miller will now deliver to the Navy in February of 2034, according to the service’s Fiscal Year 2027 budget justification books. Last year’s books projected the ship’s delivery in February of 2032.
“The CVN-81 delivery date shifted from February 2032 to February 2034 due to shipbuilder construction footprint constraints limiting their ability to build CVN-81 ship modules,” reads the Navy’s FY 2027 shipbuilding book.
Under the new timeline, from the beginning of construction to Doris Miller’s delivery will take 15 years, according to the Navy’s schedule in the budget books.
https://news.usni.org/2026/05/08/future-aircraft-carrier-doris-miller-delayed-by-2-years